Michele Collins Vergara, RH (AHG), MPH, MMQ has been practicing as a clinical herbalist since 2004, using traditional Chinese medicine in combination with Chinese, western, and Ayurvedic herbs, Chinese food therapy, and medical qi gong. She uses qi gong to offer her clients the opportunity to deepen their ability to monitor and regulate their own health. She is an ordained Daoist priest, 82nd generation Highest Purity sect and 66th generation Celestial Masters sect, and a disciple of the Dragon Heart Temple.
She has a general practice, with a focus on women’s health, psychological/mental health issues, digestive issues, allergies and asthma, the use of tonic herbs and formulas to address chronic depletion caused by illness or emotional trauma, as well as the seasonal applications of herbs, food, and qi gong. Michele is a graduate and certified herbalist (EWCH) from Michael and Leslie Tierra’s professional herbalist program, the East West School of Herbology. She has a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Health Behavior from the UNC School of Public Health and worked as an evaluation consultant before becoming an herbalist. She has been a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild (AHG) since 2007. Michele also mentors herbal students, as part of the American Herbalist Guild mentoring program.
In 2011, she lived in Chengdu, China for six months studying advanced Chinese herbal medicine in a hospital setting that integrated western medicine with traditional Chinese herbal medicine. She has studied qi gong and nei gong (internal alchemy) with Michael Winn, and is certified to teach Primordial Qi Gong in the Healing Tao system. She studied medical qi gong with Wendy Lang and the International Institute of Medical Qi Gong curriculum introduced by Dr. Jerry Allen Johnson and is a Master of Medical Qi Gong (MMQ). She is a former board member of the North Carolina Herb Association (2012-2015) and teaches at their annual conference, Wild Herb Weekend. She if also a former board member (2015-2017) of the Healing Tao Instructor’s Association.
Michele is a writer and continues to author the blog she created with Andres Vergara about a wide variety of topics including herbs, Chinese and other traditional healing systems, and qi gong. She also co-hosted an internet radio show with Andres called Holistic Healing with Herbs and Chinese Medicine. She has published in different publications such as the Journal of the American Herbalist Guild and the Qi Journal and has taught and spoken about herbal medicine for conferences and events targeting both the lay public, as well as medical professionals such as the Wake Forest Natural Triad Integrative Medicine Seminar Series and Sunrise Yoga Studio’s Yoga teacher training.
For more information about Michele’s work to integrate her personal and professional experience with the multidimensional wisdom of Chinese medicine, Taoist mysticism, and inner alchemy, check out Inner Radiance Institute. This website is the culmination of what she learned practicing both individually and in partnership with Andres. It offers both online learning opportunities and writing to support the process of cultivating an inner sanctuary to help navigate and balance the messages and needs of your daily life with that of your soul/inner guidance/higher self.